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Man steals thousands of dollars, spends them on Evony
A Hawaiian man is expected to plead guilty to charges that he stole thousands of dollars to spend on the browser-based game Evony. David Buchanan, 47, is charged with wire fraud after he convinced one woman to give him $40,000 for an investment that would see a promised 650% turnaround. "As a middle-aged, admittedly square, FBI Special Agent who doesn't play video games," Agent Tom Simon said during the investigation, "I was understandably perplexed when, during the 'follow the money' analysis, I kept seeing payments being made to something I'd never heard of called Evony. A bit of Googling properly identified Evony as an online video game of sorts, but I was still puzzled how anyone could possibly spend thousands of dollars on a video game. I wasn't being judgmental about the societal value of gaming. I was just dumbfounded that any video game could possibly cost that much." You may remember Evony as that game best known for its boobtastic advertising campaigns a few years back, and, surprisingly enough, it's still around. Buchanan's trial is expected to take place on May 8th with sentencing expected later in the year.
The Perfect Ten: Memorable marketing campaigns
I took only a single marketing class in college, so by no means am I an instant expert in anything but being on the receiving end of marketers' nefarious experiments to manipulate me so that I buy their stuff. I did take away the lesson that all marketers are professional liars who have no shame or dignity. Pretty much the same as a blogger, so I guess I have a backup career. Believe it or not, MMOs get off easy when it comes to notorious marketing campaigns. Anything on the following list, good or bad, is a pale shadow of what we've seen in the larger video game industry. Still, there have been plenty of attempts to promote MMOs in ways that make us either applaud or laugh at the studio (and sometimes both at once, which takes coordination). After doing some staff polling and internal polling, here are 10 memorable marketing campaigns from the era of MMORPGs. Maybe they're all winners in that they got noticed by at least one person, even if they're the most foolish notions in history. Here we go!
MMObility: Windows 8 and gaming in the Metro browser
So, you've heard about the recent Windows 8 release but aren't sure whether or not you should upgrade? How will the operating system affect your gaming, and are you going to go with any of the Microsoft Surface products? All of these questions can be answered in numerous ways, but I wanted to answer it from the standpoint of a mobile gaming fan. After all, it is my belief that mobile gaming will soon dominate gaming in the world... might as well be prepared! But how does Windows 8 affect a mobile MMO fan like yours truly? Well, Windows 8 does a heckuva lot. It offers a ton of flexibility and fun new ways to interact with your PC. But it can also be a very confusing new addition. I sat down to figure out some of these issues with the help of Ben Adams, CTO of Illyriad Games. He knows more about mobile tech than I do and was able to sort out the differences between the Windows 8 browsers for me. Let's get to it.
Iran blocks Guild Wars, World of Warcraft
Reports are coming in that Iran is moving to block access to several MMOs, including World of Warcraft and Guild Wars. This comes following a conference by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance earlier this month. At the conference, the Islamic Revolution Game Designers Community was formed and decided to ban games that promote superstition, mythology, violence, and revealing clothing. Following the decision, the government started cracking down on various services and MMOs, such as Battle.net's library and ArenaNet's Guild Wars series. Other games targeted include RuneScape, Second Life, Dofus, Evony, and Entropia Universe. It's unclear to what extent the government is attempting to enforce these bans, and Iranian players are looking into workaround solutions to access their MMOs. It's interesting to note that Blizzard does not authorize downloads of its products or services in Iran.
Free for All: New browser-based converts shine light on issues
I recently threw out a prediction that within five years, most of our MMO content will be coming through our browsers. To be more specific, I think that most players in the United States will be enjoying their favorite MMOs within a browser. That can mean several things but does not refer to games like Free Realms, a client-based game that is only signed-into at the browser level. As with any discussion about genres, mechanics or styles in the MMO world, I have to be very specific. It's pretty likely that a very large percentage of the US playerbase is already playing browser-based games. Look at the American market for games like RuneScape, Battlestar Galactica Online, Club Penguin, Drakensang Online, Evony, and Ministry of War and you might just find millions of players. Next we need to consider that there are more games coming into the browser market. This new batch is essentially a group of standard, client-based MMOs that are porting themselves to the browser. I tend to be a little skeptical about some of these in the short-term, for several reasons.
MMObility: A few bad design apples ruin the whole bunch
The MMORTS genre is easily one of my favorite genres. There's so much potential in a game that is essentially a giant, endless boardgame with thousands of players. An epic scale occurs in even the smallest of titles because players control not only one or two grand heroes but entire armies that swarm from sprawling cities. Though many of Massively's readers might not hear a lot from the genre, I believe this genre to be one of the most popular out there. Browser-based access doesn't hurt, either, and generally the MMORTS titles I find do a great job of covering their design bases. You know I have to play Devil's Advocate, however. Despite the fact that the genre is packed full of potentially wonderful gaming sessions, there is so, so much that needs to improve. The negative stereotypes exist for a reason, and I want to shine a light on a few of the more popular titles to show just how one or two bad design and business decisions might reflect poorly on the entire genre.
The Soapbox: My MMORTS is more MMO than your MMORPG
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Have you ever played an MMORTS? No, I'm not talking about a single-player PC strategy game or city sim; I mean an MMORTS. There are so many to choose from that it would be hard for me to even begin to list them all, but I'll try. There's Illyriad, Ministry of War, Evony, Call of Gods, Dragons of Atlantis, Thirst of Night, 8Realms, Lord of Ultima, Golden Age and many, many others. Either you recognize some of those titles or you do not. Oddly enough, I've found that many standard, three-dimensional-world explorers do not consider MMORTS titles to be MMOs. I'm not sure why, but every time I stream an MMORTS live or write about one, I have to answer, at least once, the concern from the audience that what I am playing is not really an MMO. The reality is that the MMORTS, as a design mechanic, genre, and style, is very much an MMO. I'd like to explain why in the hopes that many of you might grow to enjoy the genre as much as I do and that some much-needed light shines on the fact that the MMORTS is actually one of the last true MMOs around. I think the task is to define "MMO" and to show how MMORTS fits in. We've attempted it before, but for a quick refresher, let's go over what I consider an MMO to be. You can add your own definitions in the comments section. I have no problems admitting that my definition could probably use some tweaking.
MMObility: Checking out 8Realms from Jagex
Jagex, maker of the very popular browser-based MMO RuneScape, has branched out into the world of the MMORTS. I call this a good thing, especially since I am such a fan of the genre. There are literally scores and scores of the strategy-based city builders out there. Many of them not only are similar to each other but offer nothing new, not even a slight twist in design. I have a few favorites like Illyriad, Golden Age, and Aloriah, so I was eager to jump into this new one, given that it is made by one of my favorite design studios. 8realms seems to sport a unique design. Players are asked to build up their cities and advance through different ages, from ancient times all the way up to the modern day. A trailer on the front page of the official website shows a commander admiring his army of sword- and spearmen, until suddenly a modern-day jet fighter nukes them to smithereens. All I could think was, "Is this game balanced?" If you would like to join in on the fun along with me, you can join in VIP access by going to the official site and using the code MASSIVELY15 when prompted. Then come back and click past the cut to hear all about my experience!
Rise and Shiny Recap: Evony
Yes, you read the title correctly. This week I revisited Evony. But don't worry -- I tend to write about a game's gameplay and how it made me feel, not the politics surrounding it, especially during a time when people are talking more about an instance of poor taste in lieu of a discussion about how fun the game is. In other words, I will only speak about the infamous Evony ads at the end of this column. if you want more opinionated stuff, check out our Soapbox column! I knew going in that the game had changed since I last played it. I also knew that it would not blow me away as far as gameplay is concerned, simply because I have played scores of MMORTS games over the last year. But what did I find? What was good and bad about the game? And what about those ads? Click past the cut and we'll chat about it.
MV Guide: November 14-20, 2011
MV Guide is a weekly rundown of the MMO gaming events planned on Massively TV. Every week, the Massively staff logs in to play various MMOs live and in person, and we'd love for you to drop by the channel and visit. We have a combination of regular weekly games and new surprises, so you'll find a variety of titles to take a look at. During our streamed events, you can participate in the live chat, ask questions to learn about the game, and simply spend some time with Massively staff and readers. (Of course, streaming is subject to the whims of outside forces like server-side gremlins once in a while.) We've got some exciting MV TV news this week: We're changing the channel! We've moved to Twitch TV, and we think you're going to love the new look. You can still access the old livestream archives at our Livestream.com channel, but beginning today, everything new will be shown and saved on our Twitch TV channel. Ready to see what's on MV TV this week? Follow along after the jump and take a look!
Massively mammillary online: Evony hires model to be the... face of the game
Quick -- what's missing in your life? No, not your dog; that beast is never coming back and you might as well get used to it. We're talking about Evony's tasteful, classy, and omnipresent chest-centric ads that had absolutely nothing to do with the gameplay itself. While Evony eventually replaced those ads with ones that showed elements from the actual game, it was only a matter of time before the bosoms of glory returned. To solve the crisis of the irrelevant breasts, the game studio hired a model to portray an in-game character, Eva, in a new series of ads. According to the press release, Eva was chosen by the game's players to find the right look for the person to represent the game. Eva will be displayed as both a real model and cartoon version. Undoubtedly, this is the high point of civilization as we know it, and everything will go downhill from here.
Disabled man uses Evony to call for help during house fire
If a toaster caught on fire in your kitchen, it would be a small matter for most of us to put it out. Not so much for Bob Chambers, a 51-year-old Indiana man suffering from Muscular Dystrophy. While playing Evony, a Facebook MMO, in his living room, Chambers noticed the smoke but was powerless to put it out, get to the phone or flee the house. So instead, Chambers asked his fellow Evony players for help, who in turn called the police and fire department to save the man. Initially, the 911 dispatcher wasn't sure whether the call was a joke or not, but he contacted the proper authorities anyway. The fire was quickly put out and Chambers kept from harm. Chambers' wife used to dislike Evony, but now she has a different perspective on her husband's hobby: "I hated this game because he doesn't pay attention to me or anything else in the house. Now I've got to bite my tongue because it saved his life quite possibly." [Via Kotaku]
Blogger sued by Evony for defamation, libel
Serve me now, my lord!Blogger Bruce Everiss, author of the website BruceOnGames.com, has been sued by Evony LLC, the company behind the notorious online webgame Evony, formerly Civony. The suit stems from Bruce's Evony coverage and critical stance towards the game, including his assertions that Evony LLC is a company under the WoWmine.org network (a site that is allegedly part of a World of Warcraft gold farming network), his statements concerning the company being based in China, and that their game has infringed on other game IPs, including Civilization and Age of Empires.Evony usually comes under fire for their very transparent marketing strategy, which is usually slapping a hot woman (who has nothing to do with their civilization/empire building MMORTS) onto an ad to entice gamers to click. However, as we posted prior, some bloggers have found some content that was directly ripped off from Civilization and Age of Empires, however the Age of Empires assets have been removed from the current iteration of the game.
Comment spam, lewd advertising, and stolen assets abound for Evony
If you've been on the internet for longer than five minutes then you've probably run into ads for Evony, an online free-to-play browser real-time strategy game. The game is a medieval MMORTS, but you probably wouldn't be able to figure that out from some of their recent advertisements, most of which center around lingerie and women.The game's unorthodox marketing strategy has been a target of the blogosphere for some time, starting back when they were still called Civony instead of their current title. During that time the company was caught by bloggers for stealing images without permission from other sites and using them for their game's marketing. Since then, the name has changed and new advertising has appeared, including an overuse of blog comment spam.Interestingly enough, the company has denounced the use of spam amongst their users of the iEvony codes, calling it a "unethical" and "abusive."The company may have more to worry about than just poor taste in marketing, as many sites are also noting that the game's art assets and writing assets have been ripped from other real-time strategy games. Things such as text from Civilization 4 to the castle sprites from Age of Empires have been found in the game, creating the feeling for some users that this developer, whoever it is, is not entirely on the legitimate side.
